Brock City Transit
Brock City Transit, sometimes abbreviated into BCT, is a local transit operator based in the City of Brock in Gravenhurst Region in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. Prior to Brock County Amalgamation into Gravenhurst Region, Brock City Transit is the sole transit agency of the historical Brock County, and is now operated by the City of Brock. Its bus depot is located at 1 Bus Depot Road in Brock City. Its motto is The best way to travel. Overview BCT is established as a public transit system owned and operated by the municipal government. BCT began its operation in 1896. Not much change of the transit system has been undergone during the first 100 years of operations. In the first 100 years, only 2 bus routes served a 7 day full time service. Beginning from 1996, Brock City began a rapid period of growth due to the new employment opportunity in the Spanbridge Industrial Area and the Bachelor Industrial Park, attracting more residents to move in. This elevated the demand for public transit, in which more routes are being made. Currently, there are 19 (including branches) routes running across the city. Prior to July 1, 2010, the bus service in the city are operated based on full service and peak service basis. As of July 1, 2010, with the new transit planner in authority for the transit operator, service mode are switched. See Transit Mode Switch for details In addition, beginning July 1, 2010, the transit system operates two rapid transit lines, numbered as 101 and 102 (though these numbers are for staff use only, and rarely use for public). The B-Train North-South Line (Route 102) operates between Ashtonberry Station and Brock. The B-Train East-West Line (Route 101) operates between Railyard Station and Hanlon Village Station. There are plans to extend the east-west line to Fiesta Station in the future. These rapid transit service are a result of merger of Brock County Railway into BCT effective July 1, 2010, and the rebranding of the Brock County Railway into B-Train shortly after. The system offers full time service (known as "base routes") to the City of Brock and limited service (known as "rural routes") to its suburbs. It is scheduled that future GO Train West Pacific Coastal Line be extended into Brock City, and service integration would be implemented with BCT. Currently, an intercity bus operated by GO Transit, numbered 14 operates to Railyard B-Train Station. Transit Mode Switch As suggested by the new transit planner in January 2010, it is best to reorganize routes into types, that passengers are easy to recognize their type, and maximize efficiency and revenue. This was taken place on July 1, 2010. On the day and the following week when this is effective, transit staff has been reaching out for possible questions arose, and to avoid passenger confusion. Under the new transit mode, express bus route stops are constructed, and Brock County Railway has been re-branded. In addition, the former route names has been cancelled for public, while still remains for administrative use. The route are now referred by their termini. Under the new transit mode, routes are categorized into six types, each are operated differently, and at times, with different fare requirements, as follows: Black Base Route * Routes are operated on major streets in the city, forming a grid to provide crucial, base service. They are ranked first priority. All other routes (in exception to express routes), serve as collector to this base route. * Base routes serve all local stops, providing 8 minute frequency or better during the day; 15 minute frequency or better during peak hours, nighttime and holidays. * Base routes operate all 7 days, 24 hours a day. Red Rush Route * Routes are operated on secondary streets in the city, or areas in major employment areas, forming a grid to necessary service only in commuting hours. They are ranked third priority. * Rush routes serve all local stops, providing 5 minute to 10 minute frequency during rush hour. * Rush routes operate only during rush hours (7 AM - 10 AM and 3 PM - 7 PM), 5 days a week. Green Rural Route * Routes are operated on major sidelines of rural areas, or on major roads in rural / suburban communities, forming a link towards urban service (base routes) necessary for rural residents. They are ranked fourth priority. * Rural routes do not have designated stops (other than its termini), but rather works on a request-for-stop and flag-for-stop basis. Passengers may request for stops providing that the location is safe to do so. * Rural routes generally operate at a frequency of 60 minutes or better during the day; 30 minutes or better during peak hours. * Rural routes operate during daytime (usually around 6 AM - 9 PM), and 5 days a week. Blue Rush Express * Routes are operated on corridors busy during rush hours only. They are ranked second in priority. * Rush Express serves designated stops only, except in designated employment areas, where it works on a request-for-stop and flag-for-stop basis. * Rush Express service only operates on one direction depending on the time of day * Rush Express generally operate at a frequency of 7.5 minutes during rush hours. * Rush Express operate during only rush hours (7 AM - 10 AM and 3 PM - 7 PM), 5 days a week, sometimes with designated trip times. Purple Base Express * Routes are operated on major traffic corridors, busy at all times of day, and/or connect with major municipal facility (such as the Brock City Municipal Airport) * Base Express serves designated stops only. * Base Express operates at a frequency of 5 minutes during rush hours; 10 minutes during the rest of the day. * Base Express operates between 6 AM - 12 midnight, 7 days a week. All other times, the route is covered by a black base route. B-Train * Rapid Transit on major north-south and east-west corridors, on areas served previously by Brock County Railway * Rapid Transit only stops at designated rapid transit stops, with bus routes connections. * Rapid Transit operates at a frequency of 10 minutes or better during rush hours; 15 minutes or better during the rest of the day. * Rapid Transit operates between 6 AM - 12 midnight, 7 days a week. List of Service Routes The following list is defunct, due to the new route reorganization. Future Planning Brock City Transit is planning to implement a bus rapid transit system similar to the current Viva Bus Rapid Transit system running in Vandehogan. The project will be likely to be contracted to Viva Bus Rapid Transit, and will serve the current Highway 7 corridor (currently served by Route 2). However, this project will not likely be implemented in the near future due to low demand. The service will begin with an express conventional service, which the subsequent phase will be substituted by a BRT system. Already, Routes 3 and 16 are express service operating with limited designated stops and bus lanes within the city, beginning July 1, 2010. Fare Effective July 1, 2010, a new fare policy has taken place: For Black Base Routes and Red Rush Routes: * Child under height of 1 m can ride free. * Child between age of 5 to 13: $1.00 * Students between age 13 to 19: $1.25 * Adults between age 19 to 65: $2.00 * Seniors aged 65 and over: $1.50 * Transfer to other route types (other than black / red routes) require an additional fare. For Express Routes: * Proof-of-payment required. Passengers may board at any door of the bus. * Supplement fare of $0.25 required in addition to regular fare. * May transfer to any other routes, except rural and B-Train, where an extra $0.25 is required. For Rural Routes: * Supplement fare of $0.50 for all age groups required in addition of regular fare. * May transfer to all other routes For B-Train Routes: * Supplement fare of $0.50 for all age groups required in addition of regular fare. * May transfer to all other routes * Transfers are valid for 1 hour. gCards are not compatible with the system. Category:Brock Census Metropolitan Area